State-Worker Raises: Better Salaries Help Many

It has been six years since state employees received a pay raise, so it is heartening to hear that both chambers of the Florida Legislature are proposing salary increases for all state employees.

It has been six years since state employees received a pay raise, so it is heartening to hear that both chambers of the Florida Legislature are proposing salary increases for all state employees.The House of Representatives has proposed a $1,400 pay raise for each state employee, while the Senate is recommending a 3 percent pay raise. Either proposal, or some compromise between the two, is better than the alternative of a one-time $1,200 bonus proposed by Gov. Rick Scott.While a bonus would be better than nothing, there is significant new revenue in this year's budget, and state employees have done without a pay raise since 2006. A one-time bonus simply would not have the same economic impact as a permanent raise, which would be recurring and be felt longer and wider in the employees' pockets and the overall economy.Lawmakers are acting prudently to reward the state's employees as the economy — and with it, the state budget — improves. As the job market gets better, it will be incumbent on the state to remain competitive if it wants to keep its best employees.

EQUAL TREATMENTMoreover, when Scott earlier this year proposed a $2,500 raise for all teachers in Florida, he was clearly caught up in playing politics and failed to realize that omitting other public employees from a pay-raise plan would generate a backlash. It did not go unnoticed, of course, by the state employees or the public. Hence, Scott's weak bonus proposal.Giving state employees a long-needed raise not only is good for them and the state, but for the economy as well. The additional pay would work its way through the state economy as well as Polk's.It is early in the budget process and a lot of things could happen in Tallahassee before a final budget is crafted. But giving state employees a raise should be one of this year's priorities for lawmakers.There are a lot of needs in state government, but happy employees are vital, especially when they are doing more as a result of cuts to thousands of positions in recent years. Reward them. It is the right time and the right thing to do.